Counterintuitive Collectivism

This may be the first of many postings concerning the culture observed within "Potstickers," the restaurant I currently work at. As the title suggests, it is an Asian-fusion style restaurant specializing in fried dumplings (aka potstickers). The workplace often feels like a cultural anomaly from my American perspective.  All of the workers, aside from myself, speak fluent Mandarin Chinese, which dominates the common discourse between workers. I tend not to feel left-out because Peter, the restaurant owner, speaks very fluent English. He received his second Master's Degree in Computer Science from a Canadian college, where he lived for 8 years learning English. He is often self conscious of his lingual skills, despite speaking more eloquently than a majority of native speakers he encounters. Operating an American business, he feels pressured to act stereotypically American in an effort to "better appeal to his clientele." His code switching is masterful but he does not attempt to hide his collectivism from me, from what I am able to observe. Thus, my year of working for him has offered a lot of course-relevant cultural insight. For example, his collectivist characteristics become noticeable whenever he talks about the "team" that runs the restaurant. He treats the staff like a legitimate community, sans the hierarchal structure I had become accustomed to in my previous employment. His emotional receptivity is effortless; he constantly pays attention to the emotions and actions of those around him. He is not isolated in this behavior. The other three employees are equally attentive. They genuinely feel as if they are functioning as one unit quite routinely. I should note that the business has only been open for a year. I have worked at other restaurants that had operated for exponentially longer than Potstickers, and whereas they operated as an efficient, rehearsed machine, the social network was not comparable. The collectivist "vibe" is distinct. At first, the social environment was honestly uncomfortable. Many of the dynamics felt counterintuitive considering my individualist socialization. A notable phenomenon was what I usually called "passive aggression." When there was an issue it felt to me as if there was no necessary confrontation. Thus, I felt like the work environment was actually less communicative and considerate. I came to observe that the Chinese-immigrated workers were concerned with the issue but they also cared greatly about maintaining the peace. Social balance/equilibrium was important for the maintenance of the group. I began to notice that they were not trying to be passive but were instead attempting to sustain the wellbeing of the collective. What seemed like a lack of emotion was not only a cultural difference in expression but was also an attempt to keep the "team" focused and intact. They strived for group success and seemed to have much less concern for the individual than I was accustom. It took some time to acclimate but now I feel home when I'm at work. The bond I've built with my co-workers is not at all similar to that of my close friends or family but it is in the same vein. And, ultimately, it made me, at least to some extent, critically aware of the difference in social dynamics between American and Chinese culture.